Hawke
Hawke is a Commanding Officer from Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising and Advance Wars: Dual Strike. He is a major antagonist for Black Hole Rising and the first 2/3rds of Dual Strike, and an ally in the final third of Dual Strike. His units have above average stats across the board, but his CO power takes somewhat longer to charge. Background Hawke's life before joining Black Hole is a complete mystery. All that can be gleaned from it is that he was left with a brilliant tactical mind and lust for power. These two traits are what lead to him becoming second in command of Black Hole, under only Sturm himself. He was placed in charge of the Macro Land invasion, commanding the Berserker Flak, whom he promoted from infantry himself, Wunderkind Lash, who was responsible for creating the majority of weapons Black Hole was infamous for, and manipulative Adder, whose arrogance was matched only by his cruel cunning. Where Flak tackled Orange Star, Lash antagonized Blue Moon, and Adder undermined Yellow Comet, Hawke invaded Green Earth. Between assisting Flak by distracting Orange Star's Andy and supervising Lash and Adder, Hawke managed to steamroll Green Earth's military. Where as Flak was defeated with ease, and Lash and Adder barely forced out, he held 80% of Green Earth in his grasp. The turning point came when Green Earth's third CO, Jess, and the combined remaining forces of the other three continents appeared to help. After many grueling battles, Hawke was forced back to his Black Factory. Sturm appeared, threatening Hawke's life if he failed to hold the factory. The factory fell, and Hawke vanished into the dense terrain. Eventually, the four nations summoned up their remaining forces to assault Sturm's strong hold. There, they found Strum's trump cards. The first was a powerful Death Ray, capable of annihilating anything within its line of fire. The other was the Black Missile, a rocket with enough explosives to destroy half of wars world. Upon defeat, Strum attempted to detonate the Black Missile and take the leaders of each nation with him. Hawke appeared at the last second, killing him with Black Storm and claiming Sturm's army as his own. However, the chaotic upheaval caused by Sturm's death made it impossible for him to hold on to his position. Control of Black Hole was stolen from him by a mysterious man named Von Bolt, and he was bumped down the chain of command to facilitate Von Bolt's personal team of COs, the Bolt Guard. The exact details of these events were never shown, but its effects on Hawke ran deep. Shaken by the loss of his hard won power, he questioned if something so fleeting as power for power's sake was worth it. Hawke hated the way Von Bolt used Black Hole as his own personal cudgel, and was baffled by the use of the Black Crystals and Black Obelisks. What was the point of invading in a way that left the land you claimed a withered husk in the process? After struggling with the questions for a while, Hawke tailed one of Von Bolt's trusted officers to his lair. The 'mysterious superpower' behind the Bolt Guard was noting more then a simple old man, who Hawke recognized as a retired CO from the Blue Moon countryside. Von Bolt had prepared for the situation. Hawke was ambushed by Oozium-238; living blobs that ate everything in their path. Hawke was once again forced to flee for his life, pausing only to rescue Lash during his escape. The two were surrounded by an army of the slow moving blobs, vehicles bogged down by the desert sands. They were saved by the timely appearance of the Allied Nations; a united front composed of the best and brightest the four nations had to offer to deal with Black Hole. Hawke cut a deal; he would provide information in exchange for their protection. After the battle, Hawke offered his and Lash's services for their continued protection. With the intel provided by Hawke and Lash, the Allied Nations pushed the Bolt Guard back to their final strong hold. There, they defeated Von Bolt himself and his secret weapon, a massive Oozium named the Grand Bolt. Even surrounded, Von Bolt was still certain of his victory. He could use the energy stolen from the land by the Black Crystals and Black Obelisks to revive the Grand Bolt endlessly from his chair, and taunted the COs over their unwillingness to kill a 'helpless' old man. However, the Orange Star CO Jake shot his chair, destroying the device he used to create and control the Grand Bolt. The damage done to the base during the fighting finally took its toll, and the building began to collapse. While the other COs escaped, Hawke ignored Jake's protests and stayed behind to ensure the energy Von Bolt stole and stored within it would be returned to the land. The combination of events leading up to the final fight- having his hard won power stolen by a decrepit old man who couldn't even breath without life support, being dropped down the chain of command so effortlessly, his near death, and a conversation with Jake on the nature of the Allied Nation's goals had given him a respect for life over power, convincing him to fight to protect rather then self advancement. Neither Hawke nor Von Bolt's chair were found among the rubble of the destroyed base, but life was quickly returning to the continent teetering on the edge of destruction. What nobody realized was that Hawke was no longer on Wars World. The release of the energy stored within Von Bolt's chair activated a hidden teleporter Von Bolt had planted in case of emergency. The machine malfunctioned from the wave of power, changing the destination before Hawke and the chair were pulled into it. Involvement When he came to, he found himself surrounded by plant life and the shattered remains of Von Bolt's chair. Off in the distance was a massive city, clashing with the unblemished woodland he awoke in. Injured and unable to contact any of his soldiers, he started towards the awe-inspiring city he would eventually learn was named Ingresso. Along the way, fortune smiled upon him in the form of two lost Black Hole soldiers. Lash had used them to test one of her experimental toys, and the end result was their appearance on the world, where they wandered ever since. Wary of the possibility they were loyal to Von Bolt, Hawke had no choice but to allow them to travel alongside him to the city. Not long after entering the city did Hawke discover a political rally. Spreading out to gather information on his new surroundings, one of his soldiers, number 1249, discovered that supporters of other politicians were being systematically assassinated by the candidate's "Peacekeepers". They were discovered, and were forced to kill the man in self defense. The speaker attempted to twist the event against them, but Hawke was able to point out the flaws in his argument. However, his counter arguments rallied the crowd into a mob, forcing him to escape with the help of guards under the hire of the Shy Guys. The group rested for a bit and received information about the multiverse, then set out for the space transport that would take them to the main hub of the multiverse's activity. Along the way, he overheard the speaker talking in an alleyway nearby. He had set the event up as a cover for the assassinations, and was ordering the remaining Peacekeepers to find and assassinate him. Not willing to let the man run free and cause further havoc, Hawke and his soldiers ambushed and killed him after a long fight. Entry into the multiverse proper did little to improve Hawke's situation. He had been forcibly removed from his power base, left only with two semi-competent soldiers. To test the multiversal drain, he entered a specialized coliseum against several other residents of the multiverse. The first of his opponents were a kind, almost motherly woman named Cynthia and an isolated soldier who was part of a group known as "Spartans". Shortly after, he confronted a pair of medieval era knights; one a nervous man named Lowen, the other an enthusiastic girl named Rebecca. After a difficult fight, Hawke was defeated. He was granted a special stone he could use to contact them at any time, and had traded information with them on the subject of their homelands and magic. They informed him of a location where he could find more information, known as 'Crimea Castle', which Hawke decided to visit when he was able. The fight after against a veteran soldier named Bill was short and humiliating, revealing his soldiers had become brittle and their armor weak. While the soldiers parted on good terms, the pair of sound defeats sat heavily on Hawke's paranoia. He would not be able to properly fend off a serious threat at this rate. He and his soldiers began running drills in the Sea of Moondust, using the isolation to avoid attracting danger. Of course, danger is never far away in the multiverse. After meeting new faces; a young mage named Nanoha Takamachi, a knight named Aqua, and a demon hunter named Dante, Hawke resumed his training regimen in the Sea of Moondust. He was ambushed by a confused and frightened new entry into the multiverse, one Reisen Undonge Inaba. After a frantic fight, Hawke managed to land a painful and life threatening blow on the young woman. Realizing that she was only attacking out of confusion and based on misinformation, he was faced with the decision to either save her life and risk her attacking him again or to leave her to die and remain safe. He ultimately chose to spare her, seeing a potential alliance in offering her a safe place to stay and a possible way home in the future. She became his reluctant ally after a prolonged and tense conversation, though she remained shaken by the experience. As Reisen recovered and slowly adjusted to her new surroundings, Hawke and his two soldiers returned to assisting with the repairs of the Tower of Twilight, something they had taken to doing in order to improve their reputation and open the door for a possible recruitment drive in the future. It was there that they had a chance encounter; a noble keyblade wielder named Aqua, a half-demon demon hunter named Dante, and a newly arrived mage named Nanoha. The commander assisted the former two in getting the latter acquainted with the multiverse, and parted on amiable terms. He would continue this pattern for a while, simply helping with construction, encountering opposition in the crater, and exploring the multiverse whenever he had been properly supplied to do so. Reisen entered her first fight since arriving alongside Hawke and his soldiers in the crater, against an AI named Serina. The tense, large scale battle awoke some memories of her past, and their surprising performance in the face of unfathomable odds granted her a small amount of courage. However, the next major event in Hawke's adventures came when Nanoha informed him of a distress call- several areas of the Tower of Twilight had been crushed by sudden military attacks, and a group of giant transforming robots known as the 'autobots' claimed to know of the ones responsible. He, his companions, and several others became part of the force that would defend against the 'decepticon' 's leaders. Hawke and 997 took a stand with Nanoha and another keyblader named Ventus, while Reisen and 1249 assisted Vita (a friend of Nanoha's), each group supporting a group of autobots. The disastrous (if ultimately victorious) battle and feeling of uselessness the fights had impressed upon him drove Hawke forwards. When Optimus offered him a position in a new faction, named Lunar Shield, the Black Hole CO leaped at the chance to support it. The group's first meeting occurred not long after, with each member attempting to contribute to the set of rules they would operate by. It was a brief respite for the commander, being able to act administratively for the first time in a long time. However, when the moment passed, he was once again aware of how little he had to offer the faction. Something he already had plans in the works to fix. As he was out surveying the destruction, Hawke had overheard a woman talking about crystals and the color black. Unwilling to take a gamble on leaving someone aware of the black crystals running about without his knowledge, he approached and calmly inquired about the subject. This chance meeting with the healer Leonora was a miracle. She had plans to create a sort of pool of healing water, something that reminded him of the healing properties of the black crystals. Perhaps frustrated by his lack of progress, more willing to make sacrifices to gain the power he needed, or simply believing the woman to be the type to forgive and understand his new goal to protect, Hawke confided in the woman about his past and his hopes for the future, giving him the first person he could trust near unconditionally. Their goals were as follows: Eliminate the pirate threat facing the majority of Gaia, preferably with as little violence or danger to civilians as possible, and establish a safe site to test black crystals, eventually creating more ecologically safe if weaker version that could provide cities with emergency aid. Hawke hoped that a magic user's expertise would allow him to get around the innate difficulties of recreating the black crystals, and eventually provide him with the resources to create a Black Factory. One of the first steps in this plan, an optional goal that would nonetheless help greatly, was to retrieve Von Bolt's chair for study. A simple enough plan ruined by the fact that someone had taken the chair before Leonora and Reisen could get there. The duo (Hawke and his other two soldiers refraining from visiting due to the results of their last visit to the planet) began making their way back to the city, unsettled by the healer's discovery: a dark, malicious aura clinging to the site where the chair had been, likely from whomever had taken it. As the two were trying to mull over the consequences of this discovery, Hawke and his androids were back on the moon, assisting with the plan to disassemble the Sanctuary of Light; an old stronghold on the moon from a time long passed, which would soon serve as the building blocks of a new hospital for the sick and wounded left behind by the events of the Decepticon attack. The call for aid was made by a young robot girl named Roll, and their response was both the Shield's first action as an official faction and a joint effort that would hopefully connect them and the other factions present. Powers and Capabilities Beyond his CO Power, which was heavily weakened by the multiverse's drain, Hawke has little capability in a fight on his own. His imposing frame and familiarity with military armaments from guns to vehicles, while putting him above the average human from his world, does not stand well against the veritable one man(and woman) armies that populate the multiverse. His true skills lie in command and manipulation; Hawke is an excellent strategist, and has no little practice at making others do what he wants. His soldiers are more impressive in terms of strength. 997 and 1249, as Black Hole-created androids, are much stronger and more durable due to their nature, with mechanical precision in their professions (shooting and fixing, basically). Reisen in particular, while limited by the drain and more an ally of convenience than actually loyal, is a master illusionist and skilled with 'danmaku' (read: lots of magic bullets). She has power over insanity, which is more accurately described as wave manipulation- light waves and sound waves are the focus, but people have their own waves as well, meaning she can loosen a person's grip on reality to an extent, if she must. Hawke's biggest limiting factor at the moment is his lack of resources. With only himself, the two androids, and a shaky alliance with Reisen, he has little to work with. Gathering allies (such as Leonora and the Lunar Shield) and resources are the focus of many of his actions in the multiverse. In terms of stats, Hawke and his troops are on the high end of Rank 1. The Black Hole commander himself can create a healing breeze to restore a modest amount of health to a row, or a protective fog for his allies. Mass buffs and mass healing are his trade, with a focus on the latter. His traits compliment his followers' focus on {Ballistic} attacks, giving them a resistance to {Ranged} moves in exchange for a weakness to {Melee} and {Spell}. His soldiers are specialized thusly: 997 shines against small groups of enemies, focusing on single, high priority targets (such as healers or status error spammers). His preferred attack is Assault Rifle, which inflicts 8 damage (before traits) and (3) for only 2 EP. Without Impair Immunity or Resistance, he can focus fire on an enemy to burn through their DP and eventually keep them from moving for up to several turns in a row. 1249, in contrast, will spam a single-target healing move to keep his allies alive. Between him and Hawke, it's a challenge to make headway against the trio of followers' above average HP and decent DP. More pressingly, he can not only cleanse away status errors, but is capable of dealing shocking amounts of damage- his quest rewarded attack, combined with his damage boosting abilities, lets him deal 19 damage and (6) once every other turn, assuming he has nobody else to heal. His final utility role is his (1) technique; losing your immunity to Impair or other statuses can be deadly. Reisen is 997's opposite. While the aggressive android loves small scale battles where he can lock down a single target, the lunar rabbit is all about the large-scale battle. She can deal massive damage to entire rows of enemies, hit healers or other important soldiers in the opponent's back row, and can even play the role of assassin by inflicting both (3) and (5) in the same attack! Most threateningly, she can apply (1) on any of her attacks through her Lunar Pin equip. All three are a major threat in some way or another, and there's no easy way to eliminate them. With the massive amount of healing Hawke and 1249 are capable of, multi-hitters spread damage too thinly to make headway. Targeting one at a time is the only way to reliably deal with Hawke's followers, and promises you'll be hammered by the remaining duo as you do so. While shooting the medic is normally a good idea, 1249 is actually a poor first target; focusing on him leaves both 997 and Reisen unmolested for too long. Rather, one should target either 997 or Reisen before 1249 to limit their damage per turn (depending on if they're a small force or large one, respectively), then deal with the medic. Status effects can burn through the trio's DP very nicely, and statuses like Impair, Lull, Paralyze, and especially Charm can keep the stranglers at bay as you deal with your target. As an absolute last resort, Hawke can call upon his weakened CO Power to provide simultaneous healing to his troops and damage to the enemy. The high EP cost of this ability means it will only happen once or twice, but when it does happen it can swing a losing battle back his way. A character or follower capable of hitting over a row is advised to attack Hawke and force him to back off immediately or else risk a one-turn wipe of one of their rows by a one-two punch of Black Wave and Card: Visionary Wave "Mind Blowing". Regardless of your approach, status resistances and immunities, a medium sized army, and a good chunk of DP are your best friends going into this fight. Regenerative effects are also recommended; if Hawke can't rush you down, he'll turtle up and grind away at you. Quotes "Where there is life, there is opportunity." -Advance Wars 2, during his escape from the destroyed Green Earth factory. "I dislike Social Events. Your name is Jake, is it not? ... So, Jake, why do you fight? ... I see. And to that end is there some burden you feel you must shoulder? ... It was a foolish question, forget it. ... I doubt I would be welcome. I am a Black Hole officer, remember? My presence would only dampen everyone's spirits. ... Very well, I think I will join you." -Dual Strike, conversation with Jake in the celebration after destroying the first Black Obelisk. Trivia * Hawke kills Sturm at the end of Black Hole Rising and can (depending on player choice) kill Von Bolt in Dual Strike as well. Considering both of his 'superior officers' end up dead, hiring him might be a bad idea... * His CO dossier lists his "Hit" (something he likes) as Black Coffee, and his "Miss" (something he dislikes) as Incompetence. The former may very well be a result of the latter. His RPer portrays him as keeping a thermos of the stuff in his coat at all times. See also * Link External links * Black Hole CO Dossier (Storage Topic) Category:Player Characters Category:Dropped Characters